July 27, 1681

On this date in history, five Scotsmen were martyred in Edinburgh at a place just down the street from the church where we used to worship. The five men (one minister, two divinity students, one servant, and one seaman) were hanged for their faith in Christ and for their belief that Christ alone is the head of the church on earth. They died singing the words of Psalm 118:16, "The Lord's right hand is exalted on high; the Lord's right hand has done mighty things!" and Revelation 5:12, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" What is all the more amazing is that these men died knowing that their wives and female children would be exiled from Scotland, their male children would be turned loose on the streets to fend for themselves, and their own heads would be prominently displayed on the city gates for all to see (even or especially their orphaned sons)! What has your Christianity cost you?

Camp Hope Gathering

Once again I've returned from another evening at Camp Hope, encouraged by the support and concern of brothers and sisters from around the country. They are here to encourage us and to help us reach out into the community rebuilding homes and lives (we pray) with the power of the gospel. There were plenty of comments tonight about how the church is more than just bricks and mortar, bigger than just Gulfport; the church is the people of Christ from all over the world. We know that this is true. But when churches come here and work for us and with us, they show us that this really is true. The church is worldwide and extends far beyond the confines of Gulfport, or even south Mississippi, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. Amen to that. We have a BIG God and a BIG Savior with a BIG church.

FPC's Camp Hope Ministry needs YOU!

We need an artist, a baker, a carpenter, a driver, an electrician, a floater, a go-fer, a handyman, an insulation hanger, a janitor, a kneader, a laboror, a mechanic, a novice, an operator, a painter, a quilter, a runner, a sander, a trimmer, an usher, a vacuumer, a washer, a x-pert, a yard cleaner and a zealous man/women of God. In other words, we need YOU!

Have you ever been door to door asking people to let you in to talk about the gospel? Even if you haven't, you can imagine how many doors would get slammed in your face. Here we have the opportunity to knock on the door and the homeowner is saying, "please come in". They share their stories of that harrowing day and what devastation they have had to endure. On the flip side, they share their stories of how God's people have given them a renewed faith. FPC of Gulfport invites you to be a part of this exciting opportunity to outreach on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Please prayerfully consider volunteering your time to this outreach ministry. Yes, we need skilled workers but we also need people to prepare meals, do yard work, be a go-fer and most importantly to knock on someone's door to share the Good News.

Gifts from unexpected places

Over the last few months, we have received gifts from many unexpected places. Back in the Fall, for instance, my neice in Atlanta, along with several of her friends, came up with the idea to knit socks and bookmarks and other such things and then to sell them during Grandparents' Day at their school. In doing so, she and her friends raised almost $800 to put toward our church's work in helping families get back in their homes!

Well, just recently, on a visit to Jackson, the eight-year-old daughter of a good friend handed me an envelope and said, "Here, this is for your church." She had written my name on the outside of the envelope and, on the inside, had placed $12 to put toward our rebuilding effort, no doubt out of her own money. What a blessing! I pray these young people, and others like them, will always have such a giving heart for God's people and for God's work. The generosity of God's people is one thing that is being clearly seen here on the Coast. Let's pray it continues and that people here see it and ask for the reason.

New videos online...and this day in history

We have just added four new videos to our website that are available for download for free. Each video deals with different aspects of our Camp Hope ministry. Check them out!

Also, I couldn't pass up pointing out one thing that happened today in history, only because we have been talking about it in connection with 1 Peter on Sunday mornings. On this day in 64 AD, the great fire of Rome began, which Nero blamed on Christians in order to divert suspicion away from himself. This initiated an intense period of suffering within the church, which was to last for several hundred years and, in the words of the church father Tertullian, would be the seed upon which the church would grow and bloom. Let us pray that the hurricane will be such a seed for us here!

Isaac Watts' Birthday

Today, in 1674, the great hymn-writer Isaac Watts was born in Southampton, England. Watts, who has a special place in my heart for having received a D.D. degree from the University of Edinburgh (!), wrote something like 600 hymns in his lifetime. He wrote the opening hymn of praise that we sang yesterday, "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" but is perhaps best known for the familiar Christmas hymn "Joy to the World." Watts is buried, along with John Bunyan and many other non-conformists, in Bunhill Fields Cemetary in London.

FPC Jackson VBS

Many thanks go to all the children and parents of First Church Jackson who contributed to their VBS offering this year. We were the beneficiaries of this generous offering (over $3,100!), and we are especially grateful and humbled by this show of support. Anne Pringle, this year's VBS Coordinator (and a dear friend), told me that the "children could really identify with our offering this year and it allowed them to participate even more," knowing the money would be used by our Camp Hope ministry to help rebuild a home that was damaged in the hurricane. What an encouragement! We thank you Anne, parents, and children for your hard work and sacrificial giving!

Camp Hope Testimony

I've written before about how incredibly encouraging the Wednesday meetings at Camp Hope have been. Well, here are the unsolicited comments from a volunteer (Dan Porter from Virginia, who was down on his second visit!), describing these Wednesday evening meetings from the perspective of the camp workers:

"It was great seeing you all again and Wednesday dinner was great (although I did miss the mess tent only because it was much easier to carry on conversations). Please share with your members that the Wednesday dinner remains a high point of the workweek and it really buoyed our spirits fellowshipping with the Katrina survivors--it personified the work we did there!"

Thanks, Dan! I agree; Wednesdays are high points.

See you on Wednesday evenings! (Though not this Wednesday, by the way, but next Wednesday, July 19.)

"Build it and they will come"

"Build it and they will come!" These words are from the movie Field of Dreams but I am sure many have heard them used in other situations. I bring them up to show that is true of Camp Hope as well. We have built three bunk houses, a bath house, and a kitchen/dining hall that most camps would covet. We have built it and they did come! However, we still need volunteers and will continue to need them for quite some time.
As the beautiful Gulf Coast is nearing the one year anniversary of Katrina, yes, we have made great leaps in rebuilding; but please know that we are so far from a full recovery. People are getting weary and feel so beaten down after working all day and then having to go home (many still in FEMA trailers) to work on their storm-battered houses. Such was the case this week when the Delmarva Christian School from Delaware came to work on a home that was still in the early stages of rebuilding. Sheetrock still needed to be hung and floated, trim needs to hung and the painting still needs to be done. They came and gave new hope to the homeowners that maybe, just maybe, they could be back in their home by the one year anniversary.
Please give careful consideration to volunteering your time to this very worthwhile ministry. I have heard it said that the blessings are manifold for not only the homeowner but the workers as well. God has given us this remarkable opportunity to plant the seed, water it and continue to watch it grow.
Many skilled workers do not have paid vacation days and so when they don't work they don't get paid. If you lack the opportunity to volunteer and want to give other ways I implore you to consider sponsoring a skilled worker. We are in particular need of electricians and sheetrock finishers at this time. Carpenters are always needed.
If you have any questions or just need to know more about our needs please do not hesitate to call or email me. Thanks to all of God's people for your thoughts and prayers. Continue to pray for a revival of spiritual awareness along the debris-scattered coast.

Word and Deed Ministries

Recently, I mentioned the fact that Word and Deed Ministries, based in Ontario, Canada, has partnered with us in our rebuilding work here on the Coast. In addition to their prayer support and their financial support, they have sent down two large teams already, one of which even helped my wife and I move into our new home (quite ably, too, I must say!). In the latest edition of their ministry magazine (Word & Deed, Summer 2006), Derek Naves reported on their two trips to the Coast. I would like to cite a portion of what he said here:

"Many of the residents of the Gulfport area, observing the dedicated volunteer work of Christian agencies like Word & Deed, have been led to investigate what motivates such selflessness. Residents related stories about jobs which the government clean-up crews considered too foul to handle, and were subsequently tackled by Christian volunteers. They often concluded such anecdotes with expressions like, 'Now that's real Christianity!' What a testimony to leave behind!"

What a testimony indeed! We thank the many members of Word and Deed, and all the others like them, for their selflessness and sacrifice in helping us reach out to our community, and we ask that you will join us in praying that people will begin to see that what the churches are doing here is "real Christianity" (and, more importantly, that they will see the "real Christ") and will want to find out more.

July 5 at Camp Hope

I've just returned from another incredible evening at Camp Hope. One of the reasons I so enjoy our Wednesday get-togethers is to hear first hand how God is working and moving in people's lives from all over the country (and world, even). As I listened to folks speaking tonight, I was struck by how God is working, not just here on the Coast but all over the U.S. and world. We have 19 young people in this week from Delmarva Christian School in Delaware. This is the second trip to Camp Hope for 15 of the 19. These young people have been a tremendous encouragement, just watching their faith in action. I learned tonight that one 14-year old young man told his mom and dad that he didn't want to take a family vacation this year; instead, he wanted to come to Camp Hope and help rebuild homes on the Coast! Forget the beach or such; he wanted to come down here and endure 90 degree (+) days with 90% (+) humidity, working hard for 10 hours (+) a day. What a tribute to the young man's parents and to the transforming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! And what an encouragement for us!

What's amazing is that there are many, many stories just like that one from others who sacrifice to come down and help us rebuild. This week, we have volunteers from Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York.

For those who are interested in joining us on Wednesdays, we meet for dinner just about every week (call the church office for details) beginning at 6pm.

Camp Hope Encouragements!

Since we started our Camp Hope ministry, in September 2005, we have been encouraged by hearing that many churches and individuals are continually praying for us. Here are a few examples: about two or three months ago, several folks from Evangelical PC in Annapolis, MD, came down to work at Camp Hope and told us that they have been holding regular prayer meetings specifically for us and our needs; also about that same time, two teams of volunteers affiliated with Word and Deed Ministries in Ontario, Canada, came down to Camp Hope and brought with them copies of church bulletins listing the needs of our congregation and of the Word and Deed magazine containing an article on FPC Gulfport and our Camp Hope ministry (a group of ambitious Canadians even helped me move into my new house!); and, just this past week, folks from McIlwain Memorial PC in Pensacola, FL (who are still recovering from the effects of 2 back-to-back hurricanes in the 2004 season), came in to Camp Hope and told us that they have a large bulletin board in their church that is dedicated to making known our needs and the progress of our recovery here.

All three groups really had no connection to our congregation before the hurricane. What an encouragement! We thank God for the support of His people from across the PCA and from around the world.

End of the Spear

Last night, my wife and I watched the relatively new movie End of the Spear for the first time. Although I was a little disappointed with the lack of clarity in the movie concerning the reason why these missionaries wanted to reach the Auca (Woadani) tribe in Ecuador (they simply kept repeating that they had to reach them but never discussed why they had to reach them--i.e., their burden to reach an unreached people with the good news of Jesus Christ [actually, I don't recall the name Jesus Christ even being mentioned]), on the whole I thought it was a fantastic film. Telling the story about Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian from the perspective of Nate's son Steve was particularly gripping. The movie succeeds in demonstrating the sacrifices made by the five men and their families in order to reach the Woadani for Christ. I heartily recommend that you see it, although I don't think I'd let my kids watch it for quite some time. The opening scenes, in particular, are quite intense for younger eyes. Jim Elliot's oft-repeated phrase kept coming back to me as I watched: "He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." May the Lord raise up men and women like the Saints, Elliots, McCullys, Flemings, and Youderians today!